Armageddon Preview!

Six Whole Matches!


That's right, six - all of them singles matches, none of them stip matches (okay, one, sort of), and at least three that would be more likely to be on free weekly tv than somewhere like this. (Four if you count the Divas match, but then the match total is technically seven. I say it doesn't count, since Mae Young is apparently going to be involved). Not a lot of these should eat up a great deal of time.

Belfast Brawl
Finlay (w/Hornswoggle) vs. Mark Henry (w/Tony Atlas)
Not entirely sure what a "Belfast Brawl" is - is that the same match Finlay and JBL had at Wrestlemania? - but this is a match I didn't exactly expect to see on pay per view.

Winner: Finlay
My Pick: Finlay

IC Tournament Finals (Winner gets a shot at Regal)
CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio
You know, if they really wanted to reestablish the IC belt as a credible title, they'd put this on after Batista-Orton. My gut tells me they're not that serious about doing so, though, and that the whole Intercontinental elevation will be forgotten as soon as they move onto the next DVD release. Face it - as long as they have two world titles, the Intercontinental Championship will never mean what it used to.

Whatever, at least they'll likely give it to someone better than Regal.

Winner: CM Punk, since he and Kofi dropped the tag belts last night (and to a much better team, I might add).
My Pick: Rey Mysterio - an IC run could hurt Punk, but this would be the perfect title for Mysterio to defend. It wouldn't seem as implausible as his world title run, kids would totally buy it, and he has a high-enough profile to actually do something for the belt. Then again, I also thought Santino was the ideal IC champ.

Matt Hardy vs, Vladimir Kozlov
This is non-title. I smells a Virgil-meets-Yokozuna level squasharoo

Winner: Drago
My Pick: Mattitude, I'm sick of the Russian and his stunning inability to wrestle. This is two months after I endorsed him for WWF champ due to Triple H Sickness, but I was probably under the influence at the time.

Batista vs. Randy Orton
Well, Batista laid down clean for Orton on Monday, so we probably know the winner here. We can still hold out hope for the official formation of The Legacy, though. Speaking of which, wouldn't the ultimate payoff to the Legacy angle be Orton getting tossed as the faction leader for a returning Rock? Just sayin', it would be quite a moment.

Winner: Batista
My Pick: Mr. Orton, who's been getting bigger crowd reactions lately than any active wrestler aside from Cena

Santa's Little Helper Match
MIchelle McCool, Mickie James, Kelly Kelly & Maria vs. Maryse, Victoria, Natalya, and Jillian

Winner: I have no idea at all, since there was no build to this match whatsoever
My Pick: Team Neidhart

WWF Championship
Edge vs. Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy
I must admit, the swerve in the Survivor Series match was beautiful, no matter how classless and poorly-handled the Jeff Hardy component of the angle was. I love Edge as champ. May his reign last a calendar year or more, eh?

Now get a new fucking belt, and not the Rated R Spinner. Thanks, buddy.

Winner: Edge
My Pick: Edge

WCW Championship
John Cena vs. Chris Jericho
Although his actual character hasn't really evolved at all, the returning Cena seems to have regained the mojo that seemed to go missing during the summer, and his popularity has firmly surpassed the Bret Hart/Undertaker/Shawn Michaels level to settle below (far below, says I) only Hogan, Austin, and The Rock. I'd still love to see him take it to the next level, as much as I doubt that he ever will. He'd be absolute money as a heel, and they've kept him face for so long that if they wait a few more years, his turn could be Bash at the Beach '96-lite for a whole new generation of fans.

In other words, call me newly bullish on this guy. I'm not even drunk right now, I swear.

Winner: John Cena
My Pick: John Cena

Recommendation: A bit of a scattershot card for one of the quickie three-week-buildup shows, and it's nothing I can recommend that you buy, especially with the Royal Rumble-No Way Out-WM25 trifecta on the horizon. This is certainly worth watching if you have a way to do so that doesn't involve paying for it; otherwise, save your pennies, it's a recession and the next three are gonna be costly.